Dahon Vitesse - gear problems

[Morrisette]

Ok what did I do

Checked the cable, mech, mech hanger, shifter, chain (and lobed), chain alinement, wheel / axle spacing.

Changed the cable, mech, mech hanger, chain


All one by one and retested to see if it had worked and nope none did the only thing I did not do is check the frame?

I do not think there is much more to be done?

.

Hmm sound like you have tried pretty much everything. Thanks for the replies!

It's frustrating, because it's a nice bike, I need a folder and don't want to buy another one, and even with the clonkling noise, it still rides smoothly.

Ah well - at least people can hear me coming

 

[spandex]

If you wish to check the frame your self

Just get a long bit if string and tie it to the QR on one side of the back wheel then take it round the headset and tight down to the over side of the back wheel. Now get a ruler and see if the string is further out on one side then the over if the frame is all right both sides will be the same.

This is the old school way of doing it.

 

[mickle]

I wasn't aware of this issue with the Dahons since Spandex manages and maintains our Commuter Support fleet.

There is a solution, we just haven't found it yet. It can only be one of a few things, and in order of likelyhood;
Poor cable adjustment
Poor rear mech adjustment
Poor rear mech alignment
Rear mech spring too weak to cope with the job of returning; itself, the cable and the shifter internals. Or the combined drag of all three. Very long gear cables on Dahons, also folding and unfolding can put a kink in the cable. Since there is no way of increasing the spring tension and one would expect a rear mech to be able to cope with even a long run I conclude that the problem is in the shifter. It might be compounded by the long cable but I reckon the shifter internals aren't returning.

It's a rotating shifter, Gripshift? or is it a Gripshift clone? Years ago Gripshift addressed this problem with some of their top end shifters (8.0, 9.0 and 9.0SL) by incorporating a spring loaded mechanism which actually propelled the cable back down the outer during an up-shift.

First fix is to spray some light lube into the shifter, if that doesn't work replace it.

Spandex replaced the shifter in his attempts to sort the problem but if it's a problem with the model rather than an individual unit replacing it with the same cant fix it.

 

[spandex]

Maybe it is some thing to do with the Dahon Neos rear derailleur and the low-profile design of it that is meant to protect it from damage ?

 

[spandex]

I think it is a Gripshift clone mickle

 

[mickle]

Sunrace or some sh1t??

 

[Morrisette]

Pass! You've gone a bit technical for me

 

[mickle]

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. You need to upgrade to a better shifter. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

 

[jay clock]

put the cahin on the middle cog at the back (if 7 speed use the 4th one). Now look from the back down the line of the chain. Does it look straight, or is it twisted slightly in towards the bike? ie if you could move the cogs away from the wheel, would the line be straighter? If so, it sounds like the cassette needs a spacer to move it outwards. See if you can post a piccy here so we can advise. if it is badly aligned, then it may catch on the teeth of an adjacent cog when on the larger ones

 

[spandex]

put the cahin on the middle cog at the back (if 7 speed use the 4th one). Now look from the back down the line of the chain. Does it look straight, or is it twisted slightly in towards the bike? ie if you could move the cogs away from the wheel, would the line be straighter? If so, it sounds like the cassette needs a spacer to move it outwards. See if you can post a piccy here so we can advise. if it is badly aligned, then it may catch on the teeth of an adjacent cog when on the larger ones

That is one of the first things I looked at.